STEVE WAUGH is playing in his 168th and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground but Sachin Tendulkar is stealing some of the limelight.

The Little Master, playing in his 111th Test, was 73 not out at stumps on the first day.

At 30, Tendulkar is arguably the world's finest batsman. He he has a strong chance of surpassing Waugh, who came into the game as the second highest runs scorer in Test history with 10,807 runs.

Australian Allan Border is the all-time leader with 11,171 in 156 Tests.

Another Indian great, former captain Sunil Gavaskar, scored 10,122 runs in his Test career.

Brian Lara is looking to make it a fabulous five. The West Indies star has 8,916.

Australian skipper Waugh knows his side will have to stage a significant fightback if he is to end his glorious Test career after India had the better of the opening day.

With the series currently level at 1-1, the fourth and final Test is a genuine winner-takes-all affair and Sourav Ganguly's men look well-placed to cause a remarkable upset after they concluded the first day on 284 for three.

And the most ominous factor for Waugh and his troops is the return to form of Tendulkar, who has had one of the leanest spells of his career in this series but will return to the middle on Saturday 73 not out after finally playing himself out of his bad trot.

The groundwork for Tendulkar's knock had been laid by yet another excellent opening stand between Virender Sehwag and Akash Chopra, the pair that have provided the foundation for many of India's successes in this series.

This innings was no exception, Chopra supplying the bulwark to complement Sehwag's brilliant shot-making as the tourists reached 123 without loss after just under 40 overs.

The first wicket fell when Sehwag attempted one extravagant shot too many off the bowling of fit-again Jason Gillespie and was caught behind by Adam Gilchrist after driving at a wide one to depart for 72.

Ganguly had urged Chopra to turn his promising starts into a big score, but he was again to frustrate his captain, making 45 before he was bowled by a fizzing, lightning inswinging yorker from Brett Lee.

That brought the excellent Rahul Dravid to the crease, who along with Aussie Ricky Ponting has been the outstanding batsman of the series, and he was in fine form, combining teak-tough defence with delightful timing to move to 38.

But he was to be denied yet another half century, as he played forward to a good-length delivery from Gillespie and was trapped bang in front, leaving umpire Billy Bowden with no option but to raise his index finger.

India were not downhearted, however, and Tendulkar and VVS Laxman added a further 90 to leave their team well on top at stumps.